There is no doubt about Manny Pacquiao's boxing achievements, but the 42-year-old, past his peak, the problem is obvious the moment he takes off his robe, and Jodenis Ugas, standing in front of Pacquiao, looks more well-defined and, crucially, he has never lost confidence in his world title.
At first, Pacquiao thought it would be easy to regain the WBA "super" sub-welterweight gold belt that once belonged to him, which was a big reason why Ugas, as a substitute boxer, was not favored, but when the two actually began a showdown, things were not as simple as Pacquiao thought.
As a future ironclad Hall of Famer, Pacquiao was stubbornly blocked by Ugas both inside and outside, and the final score of the three referees said everything, that is, although the gap is not large, but Ugas's victory is obvious.
After the game, when asked what exactly went wrong? Pacquiao answered somewhat reluctantly, saying the injury had affected his performance in the game.
Pacquiao said: "It's not an excuse I'm going to make, but my legs are cramping and that's why I can't move around during the game. ”
Pacquiao raised the leg cramp problem, which you can consider to be a big reason for his loss, or you can think that it is all an excuse. Of the three games Pacquiao has lost so far since 2015, two have paid for himself with injuries, in addition to the leg cramps lost to Ugas, in the confrontation with Mayweather, Pacquiao said that he was in poor form and lost the game due to a shoulder injury.
Pacquiao stressed that leg problems did not exist early in his career, but there was nothing he could do at the moment. Pacquiao said: "When I was younger, I could easily move and beat my opponents. This time, from the second round until the twelfth round, both legs were tight and painful, and I wasn't making excuses, but that was why I couldn't move. ”
Whether or not Pacquiao really has a problem, his performance against Ugas is indeed not ideal, but the opponent seems to be at ease. Ugas used his forehand to contain Pacquiao's fast, multi-angle attack, although the number of punches was twice lower than that of his opponents, but Ugas's efficiency was still quite outstanding, his stabbing rate was as high as 21.4%, Pacquiao only 8.8%, even if the number of heavy punches, Ugas also had more than Pacquiao, 101-88, and the heavy-punch shooting rate was 59.1%-25.9%.
Maybe Pacquiao's legs really cramped, because compared with the past, the most abnormal point of this game is that Pacquiao's rapid attack and counterattack can't hit the opponent, so that the confrontation has repeatedly released empty punches, but in addition to the possible leg cramps, Pacquiao is indeed old, as the first 8 world champions, Asia's most bull boxing champion so far, his age and state say everything, and then Pacquiao should consider when to quit the boxing world, in addition to what he has nothing to prove, It is a lot of things that are already difficult to prove, after all, it is most appropriate to describe Pacquiao today.